Walter Caruth McConnell

“ There he was greeted with the sad news that his uncle, John Redmond, for whom he was named, had been slain by murderous Nightriders over in the valley of Kentucky. His tobacco crop had been utterly destroyed, his barns and out-houses devastated, his home burned to the earth, and as he was fleeing from the burning building, in an effort to save himself from a torturous death, he had been shot down in his tracks like a dog, a forty-four Winchester bullet tearing his heart to pieces.
What more would man need to set his soul on fire? ”

“ The light from the burning barn was brighter, and as he glanced that way he discovered a poor horse lying by the gate in the agonies of death.
"Poor fellow," he thought, as he watched him breathe his last, "your useful days are over; nothing can save you now."
Wade looked farther. On all sides he saw nothing but charred ruins, dark devastation, no sign of human nor animal life—not even a sign of vegetable life. No noise, not even the deep bay or the low whine of the farmhouse dog greeted his ears. ”

“ Listen, stranger, listen well to my last words on earth, that you may carry them to the heart of every man in this community, to the heart of every well-thinking man in the world, that all the world may know we are right. My father was once a well-to-do, honest, faithful farmer, but the trusts and combined wealth put his nose to the grind-stone. I must speak quick. But for them we could have lived nicely and comfortable. They took everything and forced—stranger, help the Riders, for in doing so you are helping the poor people, the struggling millions. ”

“ The carelessness of falling to sleep bad given his enemy a great advantage. But no, Fate was to save him. A rifle shot rang out over the mountain stillness, the knife dropped to the ground, the band that had held it fell limp to one side. With a cursing snarl and a howl of intense pain Thompson quickly picked up the knife with his left hand and was about to plunge it into the drowsy form of Jack Wade. Just at this juncture old Peter Judson burst through the undergrowth and, in a commanding voice, cried out: "Drap that knife, Al Thompson, or ye air a dead man right thar!" ”

“ There is a certain charm about the hills that will in time take away from one that feeling of loneliness which always exists in the heart of one who has not been long about them. This charm turns the rugged hills into things of rare beauty, the misty valley into a dream, and peace and contentment finally take hold upon a life that before had been nothing but sorrow and grief. ”

“ John Redmond, the second, stood with bowed head, listening to the terrible outrage; his Southern blood warmed to the boiling point. His heart beat fast, his teeth came together with a sharp noise, and his fists were tightly clenched. Revenge burned within him, his soul felt that the foul deed called for vengeance. In a twinkling his plans were changed. His adventurous spirit told him that his life's work had been found, that he must hie him to the country where his uncle had met such a hasty and untimely death; that he must seek out those who had murdered him and revenge the cold deed. ”

“ Nora remained in silence, ate her meal and cleared away the dishes, still holding the silence. She gazed up at the twinkling stars dancing in the heavens, at the great moon shining brightly, sending darting rays through the foliage of the large trees overhanging the cabin. A silvery mist hung over the mountain and flitted through the valley, the while the stars smiled down on the troubled earth. Troubled? Yes, all mankind is troubled down the valley. ”

“ Tears were gathering in Wade's eyes.
"I'm glad you didn't, stranger," said the lad. "I'm Fred Conover, and I'm dying now. I can feel the cold, clammy sweat of death gathering over me, my eyes are blinded until all is dark. I know that the death call has been sounded to me, and I am going, going, but I am dying for a good cause." He gasped his words now. "Stranger," he whispered, softly, "you may not be a Rider—you ought to be. You may not be in open revolt against us—you should not be. ”

“ Jack Wade sighed as he sat out on his little porch gazing through the sunlight to the eastward. Far away, yet not so far, loomed the outline of the Cumberland, as a shadow rising out of the mist, towering above the lesser mountains nearer. All round him in his own community men were making silent and cautious preparation for some unknown deed. Beyond the hills, where the agitation was greatest, men were making preparation for terrible destruction. ”

“ In his heart was nothing but hatred for the man who shot Fred Conover to death, and he would far rather put a bullet through his heart than any other man he knew, even Al Thompson. Thompson, he knew, was always somewhere about looking for him, that he might put a bullet into his brain or a knife into his heart.
Wade was to the Judsons a seemingly fast friend, and therefore must be firmly against the Thompsons. Regarded in this light, it was only necessary to meet one of the avowed enemy and someone would go out of this world of trouble.
Time passes swiftly over our heads. ”

“ All my heart's desire is peace, sweet peace, that I might spend the balance of my days amid the sweet perfumed mountain flowers and about this dear little stream with whose swiftly running waters I have raced so often, always with her, the sweetest and most beautiful of all. ”

“ Every curse was an avowed vengeance, every breath foretold the death of someone. The murderous black eyes of the mountain wolf gazed on, the steel-like paws of the forest lion tore the earth where he lay, the savage instinct of an untamed Indian of primeval days filled his blood. ”

“ Every strike of a hoof upon the rocky way was like a needle driven into her breast over her heart. With few words she cut her prayer short. Looking heavenward she muttered imploringly, "Save him, an' let old brindle git out again sometime."
She stepped over to her one lonely, paneless window, pulled the latch string, shoved the wooden panel aside and, peering out into the gloom, listened with heavy beating heart to the clatter of the horses' feet as they drew nearer. ”

“ The horses' feet beat a heavy clattering retreat back up the road. When they passed Peter Judson's cabin Wade slipped noiselessly out into the darkness, struck the road and started, on foot, rapidly after the fast retreating horsemen. He knew it would have been folly under ordinary circumstances to have tried to catch up with them, but he figured they would soon strike the roughest part of the hill where horses could not travel fast, and he might by traveling rapidly catch up with them before they left the mountain road. ”

“ As he walked on there came to his listening ears the shrill whistle of a mountain quail as it sang out its note of warning to its hidden mate near. Wade started off in the direction whence the call of the quail came, but after walking some distance gave up the search and stood still. A dead silence prevailed. Before him was the clear running stream, behind him a wild waste of mountain. Down to the stream's edge he walked, and sat down to rest his tired, weary, sore limbs. The sun was now setting behind the western hills, the soft gentle twilight was drooping over the mountain and valley ”

“ Some two miles away a faint red light grew up out of the mist. Wade strained his eyes in an effort to discern more clearly the cause. The light grew until the watcher could clearly discern the flickering blaze as it leaped high into the heavens, apparently bent on devouring the very stars that gave light to the darkened earth. ”

“ Such knowledge is well gained, and assists the educated and enlightened to a higher plane of equal thought. The person who never reads has no knowledge of what is going on in the outside world, and we dare to say that the person who reads only knows nothing of the great struggle going on in the hearts of the down-trodden farmers whose lives have been made burdensome by the great evil, the greatest of all other evils, the powerful trusts, trusts which hold at the throat of every farmer a great, sharp knife, one so sharp that it is useless to move forward or backward lest life become extinct. ”

“ Temptation, ah, temptation! thou art the power which overcomes strong man. Wade threw the saddle on his horse, strapped his rifle on the saddle, and rode up the road toward the climbing sun, toward the towering mountain, intending to take a few hours in hunting, and casting over the views on the other side. When he reached Peter Judson's cabin he hesitated. "The attraction, the hoss, hit brung him." ”

“ Behind him, unknown to his waiting heart, stood a pure, sweet girl, gazing out through the deep mist of the morning, as if to penetrate the very depths to a distance where she might get one glimpse of the single man who had unconsciously awakened within her soul a new life, a new hope. ”

“ The outer world now held a certain charm which to her had not been known before.
"Not so pleasant as it is here on the mountain side," he replied. "Listen, Nora. In the city you cannot hear the rippling waters as they dance down the rocky pathway over the hill to the stream beyond. You cannot listen to the song of the wild morning bird as he cries out in his great freedom from his lofty perch in yonder tree top; you cannot inhale the pure fresh air as it glides gently over the brushy way ”

“ Down the other side of the mountain now rode two beings who seemed farther apart than before they knew each other, yet whose hearts beat as one, and who were in reality closer together than any other two human beings on the great earth. ”

“ When her body passed into the oblivion of peaceful slumber she dreamed of him, of the man who had done so much toward enlightening her mind and soul, who had brought her out of the darkness and set her upon a high pinnacle of knowledge, where light shone in on her benighted being and she saw. ”

“ A new being sprang up within her, her soul longed for the time when she could see him and hear his musical voice speaking to her inner life and vibrating to the deepest depths of her quivering young heart. ”

“ They started off, but before they cleared the opening that hideous yell broke the otherwise dead silence, and Al Thompson darted through the thicket like a madman, brandishing his pistol over his head, and with a roar of anger, cried out:
"I've got ye now, durn ye', an' ye'll never see daylight agin. Hit ther road, gal, while I lay him out like a dog."
Al was coming nearer and nearer as he spoke. Wade did not flinch, but stood like a man. Nora stepped in front of him to protect him from the onslaught, but she was like a twig in the hands of that maddened giant. ”

“ Men gathered together up the valley way, but they talked farm products straight and "wunk" at each other in a knowing way. There was one farm upon which an immense tobacco crop had sprung up, and the eyes of every farmer in the community were cast toward it. Not in many years had so many men passed that way. Not in many days had there been so many clandestine meetings over the country, mostly around and beyond the mountain. ”

“ The road over which he was traveling was so entirely new to him that he found it quite difficult to make any speed, therefore he resigned himself to a jog-trot, picking his way over ravines and around low growing shrubs, sometimes emerging out into the open and traveling beneath the large forest trees. He often wondered how it was possible for the horsemen who had gone on ahead of him to have kept up such a terrible speed on such a road. They knew the earth beneath their horses' feet, every inch of it, and feared not, he concluded. ”

“ The bloom of youth is upon us, we are now in the springtime of our lives, fresh and gay; but the great hot summer of time must pass over our heads to wither us as the summer sun has withered and drooped the sweet little flowers. The cold winters of time must pass over us to silver the golden curls and gray the hair as the summer sun has given a golden tint to those once green leaves yonder. ”